Welcome to The Beachcomber’s new weekly offering of noteworthy, non-Vashon news stories from around the world and closer to home, that you might have missed in the noise of the latest media melt down.
Europe: Do you think basic income is a good idea? Finland has just launched a two-year pilot study of basic income for its unemployed citizens in an effort to find out. It is the first country-wide trial of its kind in the western world, though as this article in the Guardian notes, there are a number of cities in the Netherlands and Italy planning — or are already in the midst of — their own trials, and the province of Ontario in Canada is set to launch its own basic income experiment this year.
Speaking of our great white northern neighbor…
Canada: Can a country truly be post-national? Canada seems to think that it is, or at least, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested as much in an interview with the New York Times magazine when he said that Canada had no core identity. Charles Foran, also writing for the Guardian, explores the concept in depth in this Jan. 4 piece.
South Sudan: Lest we forget, the world’s newest country — and home to two “lost boys” that used to live on the island — is still struggling, still lost in a brutal civil war that it can’t seem to escape. This recent piece at Vox offers some insight as to why. The UN Commission on Human Rights is now warning of impending genocide — let’s hope that Jacob and his family are, and remain safe.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S. …
California: In an unusual and preemptive move, the California legislature last week contracted with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and his Washington, D.C. law firm to represent and advise the state in any upcoming legal battles with the new administration. The L.A. Times writes about the decision here.
North Carolina: If politics is wearing on you, be thankful you don’t live in North Carolina. Not only did the state see the last days of 2016 out with a jaw-dropping move by the outgoing Republican governor to limit the power of his incoming Democrat replacement, but special elections that were ordered to be held this year to mitigate racially-biased gerrymandering, are now on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether or not to hear an 11th-hour case filed by — you might have guessed it — outgoing governor Pat McCrory.
At home here in Washington, Governor Inslee quietly signed his first reprieve of a death row convict last week. Citing his belief that the way it is applied is too flawed, the governor announced a moratorium on Washington’s death penalty in 2014, and the Seattle Times has the story of Clark Richard Elmore’s reprieve, and questions about transparency.
And while the likely death of Granny, the Salish Sea’s oldest Southern Resident matriarch, was in fact, big news, this lovely piece in the Kitsap Sun about the beloved orca didn’t quite make the headlines — but it should have. Read the moving and thoughtful tribute here.
Seattle: Kicking off 2017 across the water, Seattle saw a start to a $15 minimum wage for its largest employers as part of the city and Mayor Murray’s Minimum Wage Ordinance that took effect in 2015. KOMO News has a report here, and the mayor’s office has a detailed outline of the legislation here.
Check back next week for more.
